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Abstract

Floriparicapitus n. gen. (Cestoda: Lecanicephalidea), with F. euzeti n. gen. n. sp. as its
type, is erected to house 3 new tapeworm species and 2 known species that are
transferred to the new genus, all parasitizing sawfishes and guitarfishes (order
Rhinopristiformes) in Indo-Pacific waters. The new genus differs from the 20 valid
lecanicephalidean genera in its possession of a large scolex bearing a laterally
expanded apical organ in the form of a rugose sheet in combination with a cirrus
conspicuously armed with spinitriches and 3 pairs of excretory vessels. It most closely
resembles Lecanicephalum, but differs conspicuously in its possession of 3, rather
than 1, pair of excretory vessels. Two new species are described from sawfishes:
Floriparicapitus euzeti n. sp., from Pristis clavata and Floriparicapitus juliani n. sp. from
Pristis microdon, both from Australia. Floriparicapitus plicatilis n. sp. is described from
the guitarfish Glaucostegus typus in Australia and the guitarfish Glaucostegus thouin in
Malaysian Borneo. Two species formerly assigned to Cephalobothrium are transferred
to the new genus; Floriparicapitus variabilis (Southwell, 1911) n. comb. from the
sawfish Anoxypristis cuspidata in Sri Lanka and Floriparicapitus rhinobatidis
(Subhapradha, 1955) n. comb. from the guitarfish Glaucostegus granulatus in India.
The species from guitarfish differ conspicuously from those parasitizing sawfish in their
possession of only 4 (F. plicatilis n. sp.) or 5 (F. rhinobatidis n. comb.) testes per
proglottid, versus 9 or more in the 3 sawfish-parasitizing species. The latter 3 species
differ from one another in scolex width, acetabular size, number of proglottids, and
cirrus sac size. As it stands, the new genus appears to be restricted to a subclade of
the Rhinopristiformes consisting of the sawfishes and species of Glaucostegus.